September 2012 Core Meeting Minutes

September 10, 2012 at Mary Immaculate Auditorium #1

Attendance

Present
Carmen Pernudi, Ricky Jones, Andrew Guerrero, Danny Lopez, Laurie Serrano, Susan Castillo, Rosie Cárdenas, Sandy Klevinskas, Larry Ruiz, Sal Barrios, Tom Elsey, Azucena Bonillas, Eugene Torres, Deacon Ken Elsey, Fr. Stan Zowada, OMI, Fr. Porfirio Garcia, OMI

Absent
Rosemary Moreno

Opening

Opening Prayer
Brief moment of silence followed by a prayer led by Sandy Klevinskas.

Prayer Exercise
Deacon Ken shared an Aesop fable and explained that for the next few meetings he would be dealing with the characteristics of a Christian leader. He then set out to discuss the importance of servant leadership and the examples of servant leaders found in scripture (1 Timothy 3:1-13, Acts 6:1-7, and Titus 1:5-9) He then asked the Core why it is important to adhere to these principles in all aspects of our lives. Deacon concluded that as servant leaders we serve Christ and that we represent Him, so that when others see us they should see Christ.

Review of Last Month’s Minutes
Tom motioned that we accept last month’s minutes as-is and Sandy seconded that motion.

Open Floor to Non-Core

The following issues were brought to the attention of the Core:

  • Carlos Martinez: There was a room at the retreat center that we weren’t allowed to use during the retreat and he asked that we looked into it so that we can make sure it’s available if possible since we are paying for access to the entire.

Custodial Team at St. Joseph Salesian

Ricky shared his opinion that we need to discuss how we are going to handle the custodial situation at the new retreat center. Several options were brought up last month, but we need to make a decision so that the men’s team will be able to plan for it. Carmen thought it wasn’t something that should be handled by the stewards because they are going to be busy with other tasks. Ricky asked how many people we would need for our own team. Tom added that he had called the retreat center and they explained that as long as there was no trash on the floor we would be alright and the cleaning crew would take care of the rest on the following Monday. Andrew said that the team asked the retreatants to clean up after themselves and didn’t seem concerned about it. Susan asked if we had to change trash bags and take them out. Her concern was handling sanitation issues in the bathrooms. Larry added that if we treat it like our house, ie. emptying the trash when it’s full, then it shouldn’t be a problem. His only concern was making sure the men have a full team so that they are able to handle it. Andrew added that there was less than a couple of hours of work involved. Carmen asked that the men let the Core know after the next retreat so that we have a better idea how much work is actually going to be involved. Sandy added that the team track how much time it’s going to take.

Words from Fr. Stan

He thanked the Core for the support from ACTS at the Santa Rosa Fiesta and he hopes that we can continue to work with the parishes, not only during the fiesta, but year-long. There is always need for our involvement. Larry added that thanks to Fr. Stan the WFC Choir will be singing their first Mass at Santa Rosa the first Sunday of October.

New Business

The Core addressed issues brought up in the open floor section of the previous meeting.

  • Responses to Feedback from Last Men’s Retreat:
    • The online application and form have been updated with instructions on where to send payments and that checks must be payable to “Santa Rosa Church ACTS.” Deacon asked about the PayPal account. Ricky explained that he has contacted Maricela, the accountant at Santa Rosa, and is trying to work with her to set up the account.
    • The City of San Fernando will be providing a free bus for the women’s retreat in September. Sal has spoken with his bus contact and will try to see if he can get him to sign a contract for the men’s retreat. Carmen asked that we make sure the retreat teams assign a person to communicate with Sal about future bookings.
    • Carmen asked if a professional cook will be needed in the kitchen. Susan said it is important to have a professional or at least someone who is knowledgeable. She added that the menu for each day needs to be strictly followed so that everything goes smoothly. The milk and juice was not used and Larry added that the men didn’t eat or drink certain things. Carmen suggested that we have a committee to help plan menus for future retreats so that we save money and avoid throwing away food. Jose Cárdenas added that we should stick to a continental breakfast on Sunday morning to prevent more cleaning of dishes and utensils.
    • Team selection and accountability for team members is addressed in the Yes agreement and in the director’s manual. Carmen explained that bonding for the team is the most important part of the team meetings, the planning for the retreat is not as important and can be handled minimally outside the meetings. Ricky asked if the Yes agreement was in the old director’s manual and Carmen and Susan affirmed that it was. Carmen added that team members must be present at the team meetings or they cannot attend the retreats. Larry asked if non-team can attend the meetings and Carmen said no. Ricky explained that meetings are for team only because they need to bond with each other and outside people make that more difficult.
    • Carmen explained that the talks are handled even better in the updated manual. She also talked about the training of table facilitators is outlined in the manual and that those materials need to be shared with the team. A Core member is not needed at team meetings and are not to attend unless explicitly invited.
    • Carmen agreed with the suggestion of having only two retreats per year, or four including the spanish retreats. Deacon thinks that we are already having very few retreatants who want to participate on team after their retreats and that reducing the amount of retreats per year will make it even more difficult to get team members to volunteers. Susan disagreed with Deacon and explained that the Small Faith Communities will help us to keep people involved and that she has struggled to get the communities going due to the fact that everyone is busy on team. Rosie added that to continue what we’ve been doing will mean that the results will continue to be the same. Her reasoning is that we have not been ministering to them enough to keep people involved. Carmen added that we also need St. Ferdinand activities to get together outside of actual retreats. Rosie suggested that we worry less about quantity and more about quality. Tom explained that each team member is a volunteer and that he doesn’t think we have a strong enough base and that we need to reach out to other parishes to build a stronger base so that we don’t have this issue. Deacon added that San Antonio requested four retreats per year. He thinks it is more important to bring people to Christ. Carmen explained that all the team must be attentive and involved as one body during every part of the retreat.
  • Selection of Directors a Year in Advance: Ricky explained that to pick the directors all at once would allow them to take the workshop together and also provide them time to read the director’s manual. Deacon added that it would be most plausible to select directors closer to the end of the previous retreat. Tom suggested that possible directors read the manual in advance. Carmen added that the manual is available on the website and Ricky stated that anyone can get access if they ask for a username and password.
  • Outreach Center and LA Mobile Food Bank Sponsorship & Dinner Dance Fundraiser: Rosie explained that Amateo requested that we sponsor this effort twice a month. St. Vincent de Paul has already sponsored one of the visits and Rosie is asking the Core if we could sponsor the other. Deacon believes that St. Ferdinand should pick up the tab for the other half since St. Vincent de Paul is from Santa Rosa. She is sure we can raise $2400 with a Dinner Dance which would cover one visit a month for a year. She has a tentative date of the 20th of October. She suggests it be in celebration of the 25th anniversary of ACTS Missions. It was voted by majority that we would raise the funds for this with the Dinner Dance.
  • ACTS Missions Evangelization Tithe: Carmen explained that ACTS Missions is asking for a tithe of $10/retreatants to help provide for missions. Deacon suggested we wait a year until the women move to the new retreat center and the price of the retreat comes down. Rosie suggested that during the Sermon on the Amount talk we let the retreatants know that they can make a donation to ACTS Missions. Carmen proposed that the money collected from the Sermon on the Amount talk be donated to ACTS Missions until we move the women to the new center. Sandy motioned that we accept this proposal and it was voted by majority that we would accept.
  • Expense Report Signed by Director for Reimbursements: Carmen suggested that directors provide an expense form for reimbursements that must be signed by the directors and given to Sal (Financial Coordinator) to help with record keeping. She also suggested that perhaps we give the directors a petty cash to pay for retreat expenses. Susan asked if there would be a list of what they can purchase. Eugene mentioned that manual tells the director what they need to purchase and Carmen added that the crucifixes, Coming Down the Mountain books, and Firsherman’s bracelets are already purchased. Larry asked who is responsible for purchasing items for Candlelight. The money comes from the Core, but the retreat support coordinators are responsible for making the purchases. Sal said that if the checks he gives don’t match the receipts then it becomes a record keeping problem for him. He recommends that the teams figure out what they are going to need and he can write a check for the estimated price.

Coordinator Reports

Each member of the Core gave an update:

  • Support: Larry explained he has all the volunteers signed up for the readings for the women’s Candlelight celebration. Laurie said that she is not going to be on the women’s team this retreat, but she is going to put together a sign-up sheet for female volunteers for men’s Candlelight. Tom explained that he won’t be pulling the trailer for the upcoming women’s retreat, but that Rafael Sancez will be taking care of it.
  • Directors: Azucena explained that the women will be starting Candlelight at 7:15pm and they plan to finish Footwashing at 8pm. Eugene stated that the he and his co-directors will be making calls to the team to choose team leaders.
  • Financial: Sal gave a financial report with $20,650.47 in assets, $13,574.14 in liabilities, and $7,076.33 in equity. A deposit of $1,000 has been paid to St. Joseph Salesian Retreat Center for the men’s retreat in December.
  • Spiritual: Susan spoke with Fr. Stan and he told her that he doesn’t have anything against the SFC’s, but he doesn’t want the communities already in existence to think that we are going to take over. She added that none of the community facilitators showed up to the Family Rosary Night. She is hoping to get at least one SFC gathering before the women’s retreat so that after the retreat they can either come in to existing groups with openings or start new ones. She has spoken with Azucena about signing up the retreatants for SFC’s Sunday morning on the retreat. Susan also stated that there will be a new Charasmatic Prayer Workshop on September 11 from 6-8pm at the Fr. Simone Center at Santa Rosa. Fr. Porfirio added that it’s important that we have close relationships with our pastors to help make sure that the SFC’s are all meeting together every couple of months to make sure things are going smoothly. He added that we should not worry about spanish ACTS for now and that we need to focus on building up the english-speaking community. Susan stated that separating the SFC’s by parish makes things more difficult. Fr. Porfirio suggested that we ask Fr. Victor to participate in one of our meetings.
  • Communication: Ricky explained that he is still working on the Communication Coordinator manual and is hoping to record screencasts with step-by-step instructions. He also stated that he has put the updated director’s manual and inventory list on the website and that he is updating the director’s resources per the new manual. He shared that he has been trying to work with Maricela at Santa Rosa to get the PayPal account set up in order to take online payments and donations, but to no avail.
  • Facilitators: Carmen has ordered two director’s manuals that will be lent out to the current directors, but returned after the retreat. She thanked everyone who participated with the Outreach Center and the Santa Rosa Fiesta.

Closing

Next Meeting
The meeting will be held Monday, October 1st. Laurie will do the opening prayer and Sandy will do the closing prayer. Carmen will bring snacks and Larry will be bringing drinks.

Closing Prayer
Azucena led the closing prayer.

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